Ecological goat farming brings wealth to Suixi, E China's Anhui

Photo shows a goat breeding base in Liuyoufang village, Suixi county, Huaibei city, east China's Anhui Province. (Photo courtesy of the publicity department of the Communist Party of China Suixi county committee)

Ecological goat farming, which integrates goat breeding and agriculture, is bringing wealth to Suixi county, Huaibei city, east China's Anhui Province.

A goat breeding company specializing in the breeding, raising, technical services, and scientific research of Huanghuai goats, a local goat species, was founded in 2021 in Liuyoufang village of the county.

“Our goat breeding base has 14 large greenhouse-style elevated sheds for raising goats, which houses over 5,000 Huanghuai goats ready to be slaughtered. Every year, it supplies some 12,000 fat lambs to the market and provides approximately 2,000 high-quality breeding ewes to farmers in the local area,” said Mu Lin, founder of the company.

Clean and tidy, the goat sheds are equipped with monitoring devices, which allow the technicians to effortlessly track the goats' health and dietary conditions from their office computers. The goat manure is transported to a centralized fermentation plant by a network of conveyor belt, and will later be turned into organic fertilizer. Meanwhile, the urine is channeled into a dedicated collection room for centralized treatment and conversion into biogas.

With abundant organic fertilizers, Mu obtained 1,050 mu (70 hectares) of land through the transfer of land-use rights from villagers for green agriculture. Each year, nearly 500 tonnes of high-quality wheat, 400 tonnes of corn, and over 100 tonnes of certified organic peaches are produced without using chemical fertilizers.

"Integrating crop and livestock farming has not only solved the problem of manure pollution, but also reduced the costs associated with crop cultivation. Applying organic fertilizer helps improve soil quality and enhance the quality of agricultural products," Mu said. Apart from using the organic fertilizer himself, he sells the rest to fruit and vegetable growers. The goat manure is particularly popular among fruit tree cultivators.

Statistics show that the base provides employment opportunities to over 100 people, increases the villagers’ income by nearly 2 million yuan ($278,750), and generates 200,000 yuan for the village's collective income.

"I now work near my home, performing tasks like cleaning the goat sheds. I earn a monthly salary of over 3,000 yuan and I'm grateful for Mu's help," said a local villager Yuan Changliang.